Hola a todas. Hoy es Cinco de Mayo y quiero darle una receta para preparar una gran plato mexicano. OK. I'm not going to make you go to Google translator to decipher what I'm writing ;)
Last week I made an awesome fish taco dinner to help me tame my Taco Tuesday craving. My friend Christy and I usually go to El Torito for their $1 tacos on Tuesday but I decided that making tacos (and margaritas) at home would be tastier and much more fun. I dropped by my local Henry's and picked up all the items I need to start a fiesta at home. Before going to the market, I researched some Food Network recipes to learn how to make oven baked fish tacos. Unfortunately, no recipes of this type existed on their site as most of the recipes recommended deep frying your beer battered fish. First, I didn't want to buy beer as I don't drink beer at home on a regular basis. Secondly, deep frying is not something you want to do on top of an electric burner. It just doesn't have the same effect as deep frying on an open fire. Third, deep frying is so unhealthy!!!
So the search continued and I found a recipe by Bobby Flay that definitely made my mouth water the moment I started reading the ingredients. CILANTRO and ground CHILI always makes me drool a little. Did you know that some people don't like cilantro because of a 'soapy' taste they get from it? Apparently there is a chemical in the cilantro plant that gives some people's taste buds the taste of soap... I'm glad my taste buds aren't bubbling up from the soap-like chemicals. So I went to the grocery store and went looking for mahi-mahi and was unable to find it. I asked the deli person if they could recommend a fish similar to mahi-mahi and they recommended two fish: swordfish and shark. I was not mentally prepared to touch any of those two fish so decided to try a new fish that I've never tried before called staie (sp?) that is similar to Tilapia.
Fish Tacos
Courtesy of Bobby Flay
Ingredients:
- 1 pound of fish (such as mahi mahi or tilapia)
- 1/4 cup of canola oil
- 1 lime, juiced
- 1 tbsp of chili powder (I used regular chili powder/ Flay asked for ancho)
- 1 jalapeno seeded and chopped
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (or as much as your taste buds want)
- 8 (or more) flour tortillas
For your garnish:
- Small white cabbage (cut it into thin slices)
- Hot sauce ( I love Tapito/ Cholula)
- More cilantro
- Red onions (nicely chopped)
Directions(with some edits by me):
- Whisk together the canola oil, lime juice, chili powder, jalapeno and cilantro in a dish - I used a food container so that I could shake the fish while it was marinating inside.
- Wash your fish and place it in the marinade. Let your fish marinate for 15 to 20 minutes. (Give it a little shake so you can coat all sides of the fish.)
- Remove the fish from the marinade and place it onto a hot grill, flesh side down (I had flesh on both side because the skin was already removed so I would recommend turning it). Grill the fish for 4 minutes on the first side and then flip for 30 seconds and remove. Let rest for 5 minutes then flake the fish with a fork (basically the meat falls right off). *Note- I used a George Foreman grill and my fish was cooked through in 9 minutes.
- Once you've taken the fish off the grill, slice it up with a fork on a dish and it is ready to be served. Warm your tortillas on a hot skillet or in the microwave before wrapping some of that fish in it.
- Add your favorite garnish and done!
Another tasty garnish is guacamole. Here is an easy 1-2-3 step to making guacamole:
Ingredients:
- One ripe avocado
- 1/4 of an onion (red or yellow)
- Half a roma tomato (squeeze the juice out)
- Salt and pepper
- Chili powder
- Juice of one lime
Directions:
- Peel the avocado and scoop its meat into a bowl.
- Finely chop the onion and tomato and pour it into the avocado bowl.
- Sprinkle the chili powder, salt and pepper into the bowl and squeeze the juice.
- Take your spoon and mash all the ingredients together.
Taste Bud Analysis:
Christy, Daniel and I loved the dish! The fish was not dry at all. It was vibrant with so many flavors. It was not overwhelming lime-like, salty or spicy - it was just really fresh. Topping it off with some guacamole (just a little), fresh lime juice and cabbage made it extra tasty. I would not recommend putting too much guac on your taco because that would hide the taste of your fish. The cabbage gave the taco some of the crunchiness texture that you usually get when you eat a beer battered fish taco without the extra calories/fat/oil. While some people don't like eating cabbage, I would recommend trying it as a raw garnish. By slicing the cabbage into thin slices, you don't get the usual bitterness of raw cabbage.
Have a fun, safe and tasty CINCO DE MAYO!
YUMMMMMMMMMMMAYY
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